Page 30 of Unbreakable Love

“How long to fix the car, Ryken?”

“Couple days, more if I need to order new tires, but I’ll have to check my stock to know for sure.” He smirked and slid a hand into the pocket of his overalls. “Make sure you give her my card so she can come pick it up. I’ll be happy to give her a lift out here when it’s done. Or maybe drop it by her place. Said she’s your neighbor?”

I tore the card out of his hand and crumpled it in my fist as I shoved it into my pocket.

“How about you call me and give me the bill for the damage?”

“I think I’ll do this one on the house.”

Oh, he was goading me with that smirk. “I’ll cover it.”

He laughed and shook his head. He didn’t need to tell me I was acting crazy. I already knew that. “If you insist. Take care, Gav.”

He turned, tossed his hand in the air as a wave goodbye, and everything inside of me wanted to chase after him, pummel him into the ground.

Not good. Not good at all.

I glared at Penny’s car like it had personally victimized me before I stomped off back to my truck.

I should have let Ryken take care of her. See if I cared.

TEN

PENNY

“I’m so sorry, Penny. Any other day I would, but I need to get the kids from Max’s after school. Brooks has a dentist appointment, but I can help you out this weekend if you need anything.”

“That’s all right, and thanks.” Although it was anything but all right. My phone burned my palm as I gripped it in my hand, still hot from the text I received from Gavin a few minutes ago.

I can pick you up after school and take you home. Might be a couple days on your car.

I should have been worried about my car and the cost of repairs, but it was the thought of sitting in Gavin’s truck again that had my heart racing and my palms clammy. Pretty sure the tip of my nose was red too, something that only happened after I spent time running on a treadmill.

Gavin’s presence unsettled me, and this morning it hadn’t been like at the diner. I kept thinking about the lingering scent of his cologne that somehow reminded me of a rumbling spring thunderstorm.

“You okay?” Faye tilted her head and her eyes narrowed. “If you don’t have a ride…”

“No, it’s fine. Gavin said he’d do it, but I didn’t want to put him out.”

Faye snorted and pressed her lips together to fight a smile. “I mean, it’s Gavin. I wouldn’t mind putting out.”

“That’s enough, you crazy woman.” I barked out a laugh and turned to leave her classroom. “Don’t get started on that.”

Her brows had winged up so far and so quickly on her forehead when I climbed out of Gavin’s truck in the drop-off line at school I thought they were going to fly right off her face.

“I’m just saying!”

Yeah, yeah. She’d said plenty to me all day, both with her looks and her words.

I shut the door behind me, cutting off her laughter. Gavin looked at me like he could barely stand me. The last thing he saw was a woman he was attracted to.

Which was bad, really bad, because the more time I spent around him, the more I was doing the exact opposite. He wasn’t all jerk. He had walked me home and been polite. He’d offered me a ride and taken care of my car when he could have gone straight to work.

He might have ignored me at dinner, but he had shared their dessert.

It was one more car ride from the man, his daughter’s teacher, and he was simply being polite.

I could live with that.

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